Archive for May 2007

The other day I was waiting in an open office awaiting the return of the personal banker. As I was sitting there, a very elderly lady came in to the bank. She was at least 80 years old. Even at this age, this lady had the "fire" in her eyes. From this point in the story, I will refer to this lady as Bank Lady.

Since the line awaiting the bank tellers was at least eight people deep, Bank Lady took the opportunity to walk up and down the line of people and speak with them (her friend held her place in line).

She stopped by a lady who appeared to be dressed according to another country's customs and pleasantly asked, "Where are you from?"

The lady said, "I'm from Kenya."

Bank Lady said, "Well, Ken ya help me? HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Bank Lady continued, "Seriously, though. I've been there!"

The other lady stared at her suspiciously.

Bank Lady, full of enery, said, "When I was twelve, my daddy loaded our family up on a boat and took a trip around the world. One of our stops was Kenya."

Bank Lady, even more alive upon recalling this great memory, continued, "We sailed out of the harbor in August and arrived back into New York in the springtime. It was middle April."

WOW! I sat there dumbfounded! Bank Lady's Dad had left a legacy. A life-long memory. He took his family on an EIGHT MONTH TRIP AROUND THE WORLD!

That took money. That took planning. That took commitment. I am still blown away.

For this, Bank Lady's Dad is an official www.JosephSangl.com FINANCIAL HERO!

How are you spending your time? Are you accomplishing everything you hoped for? I highly recommend a time budget – especially for ensuring that the family spends a lot of time together. The Sangl's have used the time budget to ensure that "Family Game Nights" and "Daddy-Daughter Date Nights" are on the schedule. You don't want to miss out on these, and a time budget is a great to way to ensure that they happen regularly!

Larry Burkett is a www.JosephSangl.com Financial Hero because he LIVED what he taught. Larry taught the principle of "God is the owner. We are the managers."

Think about that principle for a minute. It changes the entire way you manage your money. It forces you to look at it from the position of a manager, NOT the owner. Let's break this down. If you are a store manager for my favorite fast-food restaurant, Chick-Fil-A, what is your job? Ultimately, it is to help the owner make more money! Yes, you are responsible for ensuring the customers are delighted with the food and service and ensuring that the drive-through moves swiftly, but ultimately you are responsible for boosting sales and increasing profits.

If you were the owner of U, Inc., would your fire yourself? How are you doing?

Larry consistently challenged everyone to look at their finances from a biblical perspective. The Bible is very clear that when you approach your finances from a manager's perspective, you will obtain better results.

Larry wrote over 70 books! Let's put this into perspective. I am still working to have my first book published!

He passed away in 2003, but he has left a legacy in print and spoken word that continue to impact tens of thousands every year. What a legacy!

Because my Mom & Dad taught me a lot about working hard, investing, and running a business.

My father started his own home-building business in the early 60s and managed to run that business all the way to retirement. That is NOT a small accomplishment!

My mother ran the home economy. We had a garden that probably totaled over an acre of land. I remember days where we picked BUSHELS of green beans in the morning, snapped them all through the afternoon, and canned them all night. Some days we would can over 100 quarts of green beans at a time! She made clothes. She bargain-shopped. She cooked nearly every meal from scratch (cheapest way to make a meal – also the tastiest).

My parents managed to support a family of SIX boys through this business and develop some sound investments that prepared themselves well for retirement.

It was my father who gave me the book written by another www.JosephSangl.com Financial Hero, David Chilton, The Wealthy Barber, to read. Through it I learned about the POWER of compound interest!

My parents never splurged on anything, but we ALWAYS went on a family vacation every single year. We also had some motorcycles, dirtbikes, bikes, canoes, and fishing poles that ensured that we could have fun through the year.

Thank you, Mom & Dad, for instilling sound financial principles in me and showing me the importance of working hard! You are officially www.JosephSangl.com Financial Heroes!

To teach God’s financial principles to 300 million people by September 15, 2015.

Folks, just in case you missed it, I am going to add the 0's behind the 300 there. That is 300,000,000 PEOPLE! That is an officially REDONKEYKONGULOUS number! That is outrageous! That is unreal! That is crazy! It sounds like something only GOD could do! I LOVE it!

I have a personal goal to teach over 100,000 people about finances over the next five years. It makes my goal seem way too small.

I have read Howard's book, Your Money Counts, and I love the perspective that he emphasizes throughout the book. Howard emphasizes that we are just managers of the resources we have. We are not the owners. You haven't seen anyone take anything with them when they die. Land, possessions, stuff … it all just goes to someone else.

Howard actually includes a Quit-Claim Deed certificate in his book where you transfer ownership of your possessions and stuff to God. AWESOME!

Crown Financial is also heard daily on radio stations around the world with their Money Matters and How To Manage Your Money. In these two shows, Crown Financial is able to teach and instill HOPE in the areas of money management and its impact on life. You can listen to these shows ON DEMAND by visiting CROWN.ORG.

Howard, thank you for consistently reminding me who is the true owner of our possessions. For that, you are named an official www.JosephSangl.com Financial Hero!